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So I’m sure you couldn’t have missed all the Macworld posts lately.
Well I got surprised by our Mobile VP with a little certificate thanking me for a job well done in launching our new integrated Google experience on the iPhone, particularly with our Macworld presence.
Feels good…

I’ve always been a fan of subnotebooks. I truly loved my Powerbook 12″ and can’t find anything negative to say about my age old Thinkpad X20 either. For me – those are real notebooks – not some 17″ behemoth with six speakers and 12lbs of weight.
So it comes as no surprise that I was first in line to order a Macbook Air, when Steve Jobs announced it at Macworld. I had a chance to play with it there and immediately fell in love with it.

So why did I do this then?

(this is before tax, with EPP discount)

Frankly, I love the idea of the machine and it truly is a beauty to look at. I’m pretty sure I’ll be first in line again to order when a newer, better revision comes out.
But right now, there are just so many compromises that needs to be made, where I just can’t see myself get an $1800+ luxury item like this. The thing is, I don’t have a ‘main’ personal computer right now. My trusty old Powerbook 15″ 1.67GHz is getting old and isn’t exactly a racehorse, whereas my Google-provided work laptop (15″ MBP 2.33Ghz C2D) is awesome. The thing is just: what should I get?
- another Macbook Pro? Why – I already have the very same thing (even if it’s not my personal machine)
- a Macbook? Maybe. If it just had the backlit keyboard, didn’t feel so cheap and the black color didn’t cost more (I really don’t like the white plastic).
- a Macbook Air? Seemed to be the most logical choice.
The thing is. The Macbook Air just ISN’T a proper main personal computer. It’s great if you just use it to check websites, email, IM or whatever else one does 95% of the time. The thing is: there is this 5% which just renders the machine useless.
For once, I have wayyyy more than 80GB of data. And no way I slice or dice it, it just wouldn’t work to put stuff on Timecapsule (another $499 extra!) or constantly move data back and forth between stationary backup drives and the portable computer. Not fun.
And the fact that I can’t even fit my Sprint U727 EVDO adapter without using a big ugly cable and holder totally tipped me over. The Macbook Air is made for being always connected and without 3G built-in, it just isn’t.
Now I just wonder if I should hold out for an iMac 24″ revision or get a black Macbook and put a 320Gig HD in (with the 4gigs of RAM I have lying around). Besides being 2 lbs heavier and a good deal thicker, it funnily is the SAME SIZE as the Macbook Air.

from cnn.com:
” WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. taxpayers would get checks of several hundred dollars from the federal government under a plan to stimulate the economy, congressional and Bush administration officials said Thursday.

“Tens of millions Americans will have a check in the mail,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said at a Capitol Hill news conference. “It is there to strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to turn this economy around.”

Sources on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department said the plan would send checks of $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly.

Those who earn up to $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the tentative deal.”

Cool. Thanks for nothing. 75K/year before tax in the Bay Area doesn’t even pay the rent if you’re single. Out of all people, Pelosi should know.

Without words….

Yes, this is GOOG and AAPL stock vs. Dow and NASDAQ just for the last month. Happy new year to us all.

Thanks to Steve Kanefsky for taking these action shots from the first day at Macworld.

Sidney Chang and I were giving a presentation on Tuesday morning about our Google products on the iPhone. I am giving the same presentation now on every morning since then as well (and in much better form than the first one I did together with Sidney which you can see here).

Alas, here is a video that Lawrence Chang (who surprisingly enough has no relationship whatsoever with Sidney) took yesterday:

Update: Linked right video this time.

As you can imagine, the Macbook Air is all the rage at Macworld these days. But I have to say, I am surprised how incredibly strong the interest in Google is. Our little booth is PACKED and feels cramped most of the day. But obviously this is a nice luxury ‘problem’ to have. I have been fortunate enough to give our Mobile demos each day so far (10:30 am, if you still wanna stop by).

Here are a few quick impressions from the show:

Quick update from the packed Google both. CNET has been covering our booth already apparently (and even have a terrible shot of me )
I was presenting first in our booth today, showing what new products we have for the iPhone. Let me just say – people loved it!
More to follow.

And the releases are coming. We are also today announcing a new Gmail interface for your iPhone. It’s integrated into the new google.com (just click on the Gmail tab) or just go to gmail.com on your iPhone. This is basically for people who don’t like using the integrated Apple mail client with IMAP (which I personally prefer and think is fantastic).
Advantages of this version:
– full Gmail experience
- search all your emails (6+ GB) on the go
- conversations view

Oh and one of my shots has been feature on the Official Gmail Blog!

So, one of the cool new products we’ll be showing off at Macworld 2008 tomorrow is our new integrated Google experience for iPhone users. From Search to Gmail, Picasa or Reader – many cool Google apps are now just a click away. Project ‘Grand Prix‘ as it was internally called has been in development for a while and we showed off an earlier release a couple of months ago. The iPhone is especially important to write apps for as Safari is such a capable browser and every iPhone user has a data plan and actually makes use of it!

This new version now is significantly faster, due to lots of Ajax integration and prefetching of things like emails and calendar entries. So, even over an EDGE connection it makes you feel like you’re in an application rather than a website.
Just try out google.com on your iPhone.